THE SIN OF SONLESSNESS, reflections on 9/11
#055b reflections on 9/11 THE SIN OF SONLESSNESS
Scripture John 8:21-36, NIV Orig. Date 10-2-61
Rewr. Dates 9/14/2001; 4-18-85 (7-77)
Passage: 21 Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”
22 This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?”
23 But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”
25 “Who are you?” they asked. “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. 26 “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”
27 They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. 28 So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up[a] the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. 29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” 30 Even as he spoke, many believed in him.
31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”
34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Purpose: Post 9-11, to introduce a doctrinal study called The Doctrine of Christ so that my people will better understand their need of Christ, the sin-bearer.
Keywords: Christ, Saviour Christian Life Sin Power
Introduction
The study brought us today to John 8:24. The horrors of the week do not necessitate a change. The gospel is still the hope of our world. We must be faithful, but careful in exploiting what we possess. Commitment is the exercise of the day.
We have watched, for three days now, as a brigade of men and women have hauled away the debris of the World Trade Center. Hundreds of thousands of tons of the by-product of the hate of a small group of people. A vast commitment of principal because one person may still be alive under it. Such effort is simply a by-product of love.
So, the text has not been changed, though some remarks will bear on the depth of the outcome of such a week.
Significantly, the controversial remarks of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell must be brought into such a text. Has God taken a protective hand away? It is impossible to argue the point that we Americans have enjoyed that protection. Now, is it gone? Are we without it? They are honorable men, and men of vision, but they are wrong. His hand is extended to all people of “good will,” whatever their religion or life principle. And, so must our hand. In the crisis of that hour, and the days since, there have been tens of thousands of those responses.
The tragedy happened. It was not willed by deity to happen. Nor was it a chance event. It was humanly engineered. So must be the conditions of recovery.
Deuteronomy 24:16 “Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.” Jeremiah 31:29 “In those days . . . say no more ‘the fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ . . . Everyone shall die for his own iniquity.”
Even if Robertson and Falwell could prove their contention, I would lay claim to that concluding prayer of Habakkuk 3:17-19 “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength. He will make my feet like hinds’ feet and He will make me to walk upon mine high places.”
Sin comes to us in all shapes and colors. It waltzes through one’s life with the whisper of a gentle breeze, or it destroys everything in its path like a late Summer storm. It registers every degree of intensity from anguish to zeal (misguided). It is real! There are different kinds. These are difficult to categorize. One sin exceeds all others in total effect upon our lives. It is the Sin of Sonlessness. It is the sin unto death. It spells death for people, for cultures, for nations, for churches.
I. The Sin of Sonlessness Results in Minimized Human Potential. John 8:34-36 “You are from beneath, I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world. Therefore, I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
You see, creation included Christ. God created a being capable of self-will and therefore of response. Genesis 3:5 “Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Ecclesiastes 7:29 “God has made man upright, but they have sought many inventions.” They were seeking not what God’s will provides but what their will tolerates.
From the first it was His intention to redeem man through Christ. One of the things remembered with fondness from New Orleans is the trips to Women’s Hospital and the magnificent walks by the nursery window. There were dozens of babies. The spark of life is God’s gift. Spiritual life also. John 1:16f “of His fullness have we all received . . . . The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”
Any of us may achieve material success apart from Christ, but it has no redeeming effect. Some unnamed author of Profit and Loss wrote:
I counted dollars while God counted crosses,
I counted gains while He counted losses.
I counted my worth, my things gained in store;
And he sized me up by the scars that I bore.
I counted honors and sought degrees,
He counted the hours I spent on my knees.
I never knew until one day by the grave
How vain are the things that we spend life to save.
I did not know till a friend went above
That richest is he who is rich in God’s love.
Dr. Arthur Burden, Christian psychiatrist in New Orleans, served on the Foreign Mission Board screening committee. He recovered from a heart attack in 1974. “God spared my life. I am sure of that. I am not completely sure for what reasons. The things that are important to me now are the little everyday things: a blue sky; time spent with my family; the touch of a friend’s hand.”
We reach our fullest potential by the measure of our attachment to Christ.
II. The Sin of Sonlessness Results in a Life Turned Inward. John 8:26 “I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard from Him.”
The first concern of the life turned inward is that it contradicts God’s will. What if Jesus had allowed Himself to get side-tracked? What if He had been satisfied to turn Israel around? V26 “I see so much to judge.”
For the reformer, what if the goal becomes an end in itself, and the source of the goal is lost from view? “He who sent me is true.”
You see, Israel was to be the agent through whom others came to believe. “And I speak to the world.” Isaiah 42:6 “I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, . . . and give thee . . . for a light to the Gentiles.”
Though Jesus didn’t get side-tracked, we can. The question is not just the expending of spiritual energy. It is primarily openness of life to the will of God. I Corinthians 3:11f “No other foundation can any person lay than what is laid, which is Jesus. Whatever is built . . . gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or stubble. Fire shall try everyone’s work of what sort it is.”
This life turned inward becomes a barrier to the way rather than a guidepost. Parents can stand in the way of children. Failing to be a consistent witness, we stand in the way of others. G.K. Chesterton wrote: “We are all in the same boat on a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty.”
III. The Sin of Sonlessness Separates One from God. John 8:34 “Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin, and a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” It is to know God through His Son. Gladstone “All that I think, all that I hope, all that I write, all that I live for, is based on the divinity of Jesus Christ, the central joy of my poor wayward life.” Phillips Brooks “The only way to realize that we are God’s children is to allow Jesus to lead us to our Father.”
But to be without Christ is to be without dependable hope. John 3:36 “He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life, but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on Him.”
Conclusion
He held the lamp each livelong day
So low that none could miss the way,
And yet so high to bring in sight
That picture fair of Christ, the light,
That gazing up--the lamp between—
The hand that held it was not seen.
He held the pitcher, stooping low,
To lips of little ones below,
Then raised it to the weary saint
And bade him drink when sick and faint;
They drank--the pitcher thus between—
The hand that held it scarce was seen.
He blew the trumpet, soft and clear,
That cringing sinners need not fear,
And then with louder note and bold
To storm the walls of Satan’s hold:
The trumpet coming thus between,
The hand that held it was not seen.
But when our captain says, “Well done
Thou good and faithful servant, come.
Lay down the lamp, lay down the cup,
Lay down the trumpet, leave the camp.”
Thy weary hands will then be seen,
Clasped in his pierced ones, naught between.
Author unknown
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY CEREMONY OF IRA AND VONCILLE VEAZEY
#649 25TH ANNIVERSARY CEREMONY OF IRA AND VONCILLE VEAZEY
PRAYER
When a man and woman come to choose for themselves the estate of marriage, they do, whether knowingly or unknowingly, choose unto their united life, that which is a product of the love and grace of God. Whatever the level of their spiritual experience, they enter into a contract of which it is God’s purpose to bless As early as the second chapter of Genesis, the first book in God’s Word establishes the intent of God. Of the creation encounter we are taught, “The Lord God said, It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him an helpmeet for him.”
It is a happy experience to look with eyes of faith through the pages of holy scripture, and to discover, again and again, the positive blessings of God which are associated with marriage. Though our Lord, Himself, did not marry, He graced its meaning by choosing a wedding feast in Cana of Galilee for the occasion of His first miracle. On such a happy event as this, as surely as at His baptism, He announced His Messiahship and His miracle-endowed ministry.
The primary impact of Jesus’ teaching on the subject of marriage was clearly established. Both Matthew (19) and Mark (10) record the basis of marriage as the foundation stone upon which the social culture of family life is to be built. Jesus said, “For this cause shall a man leave His father and mother, and cleave to his wife; and they twain shall be one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder.”
There had been other Old Testament passages that had formed the nucleus of Jesus’ teachings. It was a broad principle stated by Solomon in Ecclesiastes 4:9. “Two are better than one.” He had stated the principle much more meaningfully in Proverbs 18:22. “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favor of the Lord.” Solomon’s experiences teach us also what he learned in the retrospect of having lived counter to the principle. One of the most beautiful Old Testament passages is in The Song of Solomon where the lovely Shulamite woman rejects all of the pursuits and advances of the king because of her love for the one whom she would ultimately marry.
There is yet another dimension of the holy estate of matrimony presented in the scripture The New Testament epistles speak of the church as the bride of Christ. This One who is Lord is pictured as giving His life for His one true love. Paul in the Epistle to the Ephesians reminded the believing husbands that they “were to love their wives, nourishing and cherishing the relationship, even as the Lord the church.”
As the imprint of the intent of God is found almost from the first page of scripture, it is seen finally in the last book and near the last chapter. The revelator, John, records in Chapter 19, “blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Though it is not an issue here, the believing husband or wife is encouraged to believe that their witness will be effective in bringing an unbelieving spouse to faith. (I Corinthians 7:14)
We have come together here this evening, not to unite in matrimony, but to consecrate a union in matrimony, but to consecrate a union in acknowledgement of the attainment of the Twenty-fifth Anniversary. This acknowledgement declares to all who care to take notice that the years yet to be are even more important than the ones that have been. On the occasion of this anniversary, you are surrounded by the friends who have walked with you through both sad and glad. Others here are themselves the result of your marital trust.
You stand before me as two already united in the eyes of the state, and considered so by your friends and loved ones. It is an ennobling act of faith which seeks to commemorate this happy event in the presence of these who know and love you.
We are told that “Where two or more are gathered together in the name of the Lord, He is present there with those who are His.” (Matthew 18:20) What more significant gathering of two or more of His own than to accommodate a believing couple in their desire to sanctify their union for these important years ahead.
It is then, not with symbolic candles that we come to express the meshing together of your individual lives. It is not to sign the necessary but too often meaningless documents of State. It is not even to give renewed meaning to the rings of ceremony already shared. It is simply to restate the vows of union.
I request that you join right hands, face each other, and repeat these vows:
“I thank God for the holy estate of matrimony.
“I praise His Name for the fusing of my life with yours.
“I bless His Name and for His will expressed lovingly through our lives.
“I am pledged in wedded love to you alone for so long as we shall live.”
PRAYER
WEDDING CEREMONY OF THOMAS A. MICHELLI AND VICKIE LYNN SMITH
#071 WEDDING CEREMONY of THOMAS A. MICHELLI AND VICKIE LYNN SMITH
Prepared by Lamar Skinner November 21, 1987
Marriage has historically been one of life’s greatest celebrations. Every culture has had its very own means to this end. The processes, whether primitive or exacting, have enabled the two contracting parties to form a normative relationship. These individuals would, in this manner, disassociate themselves from the vestiges of the single life, and begin the experience of shared intimacy. Life takes on the different hue of sharing. There are now two hands on the tiller of faith and circumstance.
The declaration made here is all the more significant because there are already two others who stand to gain greatly by this association. It is all the more significant then, that we enter into this celebration prayerfully.
You will bow with me, please, for prayer.
PRAYER
We are assembled here, in the home of friends to joyfully share in this celebration of marriage. Our minds, hearts, and spirits join with those of
Tommy Michelli
and
Vickie Smith
to enjoin the spiritual oneness of marriage. We acknowledge responsibility, responsibility first to God, Himself. Responsibility to other family members who surely are affected by this decision. Marriage, in its fullest dimension, is the achievement of God alone. We are to look to Him for the greater fulfillment of family. We are surely to praise Him for the opening of doors that led upward to this celebration. You have prayed about your own decision. Others, who love you devotedly, have prayed for you. As great significance is seen in prayer for the wedding, even greater significance is determined for marriage. No more measured circumstance could come out of your wedding here today than that of determining that God will hold the place of honor in your individual and collective lives.
As the years have passed, Tommy, Vickie, you have meandered down separate trails toward a destiny that you could not imagine. You were guided through your own childhood, but the day came when more assertive decisions became your lot. Events of magnitude have occurred. You have experienced both happiness and grief. Stumbling steps have reached toward selfhood, toward becoming the person you can, and ought to be. There have been many times when your steps were the steps of a person alone. When you turn from this place, the sands of time will reveal partnered steps. Work with all your heart and soul to keep it just that way. Look to God as the source of your strength.
Marriage is not innovative. It is not unique. It is simply acquiescence to a greater divine plan.
“And the Lord God said, ‘It isn’t in man’s best interest for him to be alone; I will make another person to complement him. They will be suited to each other’s needs.’ Then the Lord . . . brought this woman to the man. This explains why the man . . . is joined to his wife in such a way that the two become one person.”
To this end we are gathered here. It is toward what we believe to be the will of God that we here move. We do little more than add man’s prose to God’s promise. For it is the promise that sends faith to replace the fantasy of the dreamer.
Because you have indicated to me that these goals to be shared are your desire. As you want this spiritual priority to guide your relationship, I then request that you join your right hands and repeat these vows.
I Tommy take you Vickie to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.
Vickie, your vow is no more nor any less than that of the one who here becomes your husband.
I Vickie take you Tommy to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, to love and to cherish, til death do us part.
Now, as a sign of the confirmation of these vows, you will share together the rings of covenant. The ring has had other uses throughout history. But none match the holy estate of their importance in marriage. The symbolism of pure metal and unique form address the purity that is to attend your relationship, and the eternality of your covenant.
Do you, Tommy/Vickie, give this ring to Vickie/Tommy, as an eternal covenant of your love?
Each responds “I do!”
Do you receive the ring, Vickie/Tommy, as such a token of love, and do you so promise to wear it as it has been thus intended?
Each answers “I will!”
Those of us gathered here by your invitation have heard you pledge your love each to the other. We have watched as you sealed the contract of your marriage with the rings you have shared with the other. I therefore, as your pastor friend, and as an agent of this state empowered to do so, happily acknowledge your new station as husband and wife. Take care that this holy covenant remains so. Become the family, father, mother, and two daughters, Jessica and Lindsey, loved fully by you both.
Tommy, you may kiss your wife.
WEDDING OF ROBERT CARLTON DINWIDDIE and FRITHA LYNN SKINNER
#715 WEDDING
OF
ROBERT CARLTON DINWIDDIE
AND
FRITHA LYNN SKINNER
At
First Baptist Church
Bernice, Louisiana
April 22, 1989
Prelude
Duet “O, the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus” Larry and Laurie Thompson
Reading Jeremiah 33:10f Robert Burns
“There shall be heard in this place, . . . the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the Lord of hosts: for the Lord is good; for His mercy endureth forever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord.”
The Processional Worship Medley Betty O’Bannon
Mothers are seated
Presentation of the Bride
Rob Burns: “Who gives this young woman in marriage?”
Lamar Skinner: “Her mother and I!”
Solo “The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi” Larry Thompson
The Declaration
The time comes round for all of us when deeply significant decisions are to be made. Questions demanding answers come upon us in ways that require the total commitment of every resource of our personhood. Such times require an unfailing trust in the other people who are affected by such decisions. Marriage is not the only determination of such merit, but it surely is one of the more important. Thus, have Robert Dinwiddie and Fritha Skinner decided.
Having chosen, Bob and Fritha seek oneness and happiness in the will of God. They invite the congregation to join them in singing the hymn,
Congregational Hymn “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” #2
We all have deep feelings and life-encompassing needs, but are such feelings enough? It is no wonder then that the challenge of marriage charms us by the anticipation of such noble purpose to be shared.
For the two of you, there has been all of this, and more. There has been mutual trust. There has been respect for the attitudes of friends and loved ones who shared the intensity of this coming to oneness. There has been faith in God as the ground of being. Surely now, there is for you both, a sense of assurance and anticipation that these months and months of friendship and deepening love will result in the continued intensity of all of these feelings of which marriage consists.
So, we have come to this place today to share with Robert and Fritha on the occasion of their marriage. Because it is a most happy event in their lives, it is their desire to share such a moment with those dearest to them. They do herewith give indication that this brings fulfillment for their individual lives and for their collective life as husband and wife.
I invite you then to bow with them and with me in prayer. While it is the prayer of dignity in assured and committed lives, it is also the deeply penetrating prayer for the judgment of God’s love upon our lives.
Prayer Pastor
Do I need to remind you that the last of the creative acts of God was the provision of an helpmeet for a friend of God whose name was Adam? With this wife, spouse, helpmate, friend, he was to live in a relationship of conjugal sharing. The man was not pictured as master, but as loving husband with the responsibility of protection and provision. The woman was not pictured as of less worth and consequence, but as the molder of meaningful family relationship. To deny these goals is to deny scripture, and to deny God. It remains God’s intent, as we understand His Word, for the husband, spiritually, to be the head of the home. He cannot, however, appropriate God’s ideals in the home until he has appropriated God’s spirit in his life.
It was of this relationship that Jesus declared what He knew to be the intent of God. His statement is one of breaking forth, of faith, of family. His words were, “For this reason, a man shall leave father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they two shall become one.”
With particular appropriateness Jesus has spoken. You are admonished to make other human relationships secondary to your relationship to each other. The only responsibility exceeding this one is that responsibility both of you owe to God. It is in thus walking with Him that you find true prosperity in each other, and therein life takes on its grandest meaning. Elizabeth Barrett Browning shares such a thought.
“Earth’s crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God. But only those who look take off their shoes. The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.”
So, Bob, Fritha, you have so chosen. Your intent is to be one, and in that oneness to find your happiness in the will of God.
The apostle Paul has given us a wonderful insight to marriage. “Marriage was to be held in honor by all,” he wrote; and in another place he constrained the Christian husband “to love his wife as Christ loved the church.” Therein is the husband constrained, and the wife challenged, to be the inspiration of such love.
Reading I Corinthians 13:1-13 Rob Burns
“If I speak with the eloquence of men and of angels, but have no love, I become no more than blaring brass or crashing cymbal. If I have the gift of foretelling the future and hold in my mind not only all human knowledge but the very secrets of God, and if I also have the absolute faith which can move mountains, but have no love, I amount to nothing at all. If I dispose of all that I possess, yes, even if I give my own body to be burned, and have no love, I achieve precisely nothing.
“This love of which I speak is slow to lose patience—it looks for a way of being constructive. It is not possessive; it is neither anxious to impress nor does it cherish inflated ideas of its own importance.
“Love has good manners and does not pursue selfish advantage. It is not touchy. It does not keep account of evil or gloat over the wickedness of other people. On the contrary, it is glad with all good men when truth prevails.
“Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. It is, in fact, the only thing standing when all else has fallen.
“For if there are prophecies they will be fulfilled and done with, if there are ‘tongues’ the need for them will disappear, if there is knowledge it will be swallowed up in truth. For our knowledge is always incomplete and our prophecy is always incomplete, and when the complete comes, that is the end of the incomplete.
“When I was a little child I talked and felt and thought like a little child. Now that I am an adult my childish speech and feeling and thought have no further significance for me.
“At present we look at puzzling reflections in a mirror. The time will come when we shall see reality whole and face to face! At present all I know is a little fraction of the truth, but the time will come when I shall know it as fully as God now knows me.
“In this life we have three great lasting qualities—faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
It seems appropriate somehow for the two of you, to bring Sidney Lanier off the shelf and to allow his salient pen to speak a word of vision. In his “Song of the Future” of a bird set free,
“My brain is beating like the heart of Haste: I’ll loose me a bird upon this Present waste; . . . Thou’rt only a gray and sober dove, But thine eye is faith and thy wing is love.”
Isn’t it wonderful what “gray and sober” doves can become in the “eye” of faith, and on the “wing” of love?
I request that you join right hands and prepare to share the vows of ceremony and commitment. To others of us, they are ceremonial. To you these vows are a fundamental statement of your commitment.
Bob/Fritha repeat:
In the name of God, I, _______, take you, _______, to be my wife/husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to honor and to cherish, until we are parted by death. This is my solemn vow.
Ring ceremony:
And now as a constant reminder of this hour and these vows, we shall take the rings of ceremony and confirm to all that you belong each to the other. It is significant that the ring has come to be used in this way. Just such bands of gold have been used throughout history in various meaningful ways. It was for a time a signet to be worn by the monarch with which important documents of state were sealed. It was used during another period as a bond of friendship in which brotherhood was often established. It was thought by some to have the magic powers of a talisman. But used as a symbol of marital union, the ring attains its most significant worth.
The purity of content describes the relationship that you share. The form declares permanence. Remember please, that God’s moderating Spirit is the conductor of marital harmony.
Do you, Robert, give this ring to Fritha as a token of your love for her? Do you accept this ring, Fritha, as a token of Bob’s love, and will you wear it as a sign of your love for him?
Do you, Fritha, give this ring to Robert as a sign of your love for him? Do you, then, Robert, accept Fritha’s ring, and promise to wear it as a sign of your love for her?
Pronouncement:
Having pledged your love with these vows, and having sealed your vows with these rings, I do now acknowledge your marriage as a binding contract of commitment to each other, and in doing so, pronounce you to be husband and wife.
We have been witnesses to this treasured moments in your lives. Daily seek God’s presence to bring His intensity to your union. Let all take care that this covenant remain sacred. May the God who cherishes His children hold you always in the embrace of His love. May those who love you, love you yet the more.
Benediction Romans 15:4-7 Dorothea Gatlin
“For all those words which were written long ago are meant to teach us today, so that we may be encouraged to endure and to go on hoping in our own time. May the God who inspires men to endure, and gives them constant encouragement, give you a mind united with one another in your common loyalty to Christ Jesus. And then, as one, you will sing from the heart the praises of God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. So open your hearts to one another as Christ has opened His heart to you, and God will be glorified.”
Prayer Ms. Gatlin
Congregational Hymn “God, Our Father, We Adore Thee” #5
Recessional “The Master Hath Come” Betty O’Bannon
Rob Burns Invitation to Reception
SHUT UP AND SHOUT OUT
#086 SHUT UP AND SHOUT OUT
Scripture Jeremiah 33:1-7 NIV Orig. 1-7-62
Rewr. 9-12-89
Passage: 1 While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the LORD came to him a second time: 2 “This is what the LORD says, he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it—the LORD is his name: 3 ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ 4 For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the houses in this city and the royal palaces of Judah that have been torn down to be used against the siege ramps and the sword 5 in the fight with the Babylonians : ‘They will be filled with the dead bodies of the people I will slay in my anger and wrath. I will hide my face from this city because of all its wickedness. 6 ‘Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security. 7 I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity and will rebuild them as they were before.’”
Purpose: Continuing a study emphasis from the prophets, here concluding a brief synopsis of some of the teaching of this book.
Keywords: Bible Study Series, Jeremiah
Series, Old Testament Prophets
Timeline: Sequential
Introduction
The Biblical text writers are not strangers to persecution. The path woven through the Old Testament prophets reveals to us again and again the hatred of those who protested against what the prophet had to say. Not only did Jeremiah, as almost the last of the line, know about the others, he experienced it himself under the most adverse of circumstances.
Jeremiah has been accused of capitulation to the enemy (Jeremiah 37:13), and summarily taken away to prison. The immediate event seems to have taken place at about the time Jehoiakim was relieved of the throne and taken to Babylon. According to 37:1, Zedekiah has come to the throne, the third son of Josiah.
The political leaders were among the arch enemies of the prophet and his message from God. Jehoiakim, you remember, after the second Temple sermon had cut the segments from the scroll and burned them.
The message of Jeremiah (36:32) seems, however, to have been written before the time spent in prison. Jeremiah’s emotional warfare had been going on all the time in his own spirit.
Paul, we know, wrote some of his letters from prison. Consider Ephesians 6:12:
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
John Bunyan, also, in Pilgrim’s Progress:
“If you will go with us, you must go against wind and tide; you must own religion in his rags as well as in his silver slippers; and stand by him, too, when bound in irons; as well as when he walketh the streets with applause.”
Interestingly, Jeremiah came to write perhaps the single most significant statement of hope to Judah from this prison cell. Chapter 33 is headed, “Prosperity will return to Jerusalem.”
V14f “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up into David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, the Lord our righteousness.”
I. This chapter gives us a glorious view of what the prophet perceived of God. He saw one who was absolute. V2, “maker,” suggests first cause; “formed it” is utilitarian; “to establish it” may mean to keep it on target.
He saw unlimited intercession. V3 “Call unto me, and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.”
He saw the extent of their blessing. V6-9: v6 Health and cure; v6 peace and truth; v7 restoration.
V8 is about forgiveness—“cleanse,” “pardon;” it means to purify for ritual participation, the nearest Old Testament concept to forgiveness. This last is the same used Jeremiah 31:34, “For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.
V9 is about blessing, the opposite of what they were. Others will know. Jeremiah would be appointed prophet to the nations. Jeremiah 1:5 (“I have appointed you a prophet to the nations”); 10: “See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms.”
In vs 10-11 he saw future joy, praise, and mercy. V11 “The voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, ‘Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, For the Lord is good, For his lovingkindness is everlasting.’”
He saw the promised Messiah in v14-16. “I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth.”
***THE REMAINDER OF THIS SERMON HAS BEEN LOST***
CANCELLED COVENANTS
#084 CANCELLED COVENANTS
Scripture Isaiah 28:14-22, NIV Orig. 6-30-63
Rewr. 10-18-87
Passage: 14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem.
15 You boast, “We have entered into a covenant with death, with the realm of the dead we have made an agreement. When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by, it cannot touch us, for we have made a lie our refuge and falsehood[a] our hiding place.”
16 So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.
17 I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line; hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie, and water will overflow your hiding place.
18 Your covenant with death will be annulled; your agreement with the realm of the dead will not stand.
When the overwhelming scourge sweeps by, you will be beaten down by it.
19 As often as it comes it will carry you away; morning after morning, by day and by night, it will sweep through.”
The understanding of this message will bring sheer terror.
20 The bed is too short to stretch out on, the blanket too narrow to wrap around you.
21 The Lord will rise up as he did at Mount Perazim, he will rouse himself as in the Valley of Gibeon—to do his work, his strange work, and perform his task, his alien task.
22 Now stop your mocking, or your chains will become heavier; the Lord, the Lord Almighty, has told me of the destruction decreed against the whole land.
Purpose: To remind my people, not only of the value of their vote, but of their responsibility to seek for that covenant of men that is first of God.
Keywords: Covenants Freedom Politics Providence of God
Introduction
The year was 1650. The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland was considering making the Westminster Confession the statute book of a state religion, presided over by none other than King Charles II, an infamous man. A major part of the struggle was the artful tenet of “the divine right of kings.”
Oliver Cromwell and his troops were encamped at Musselburgh. He sent the following letter to these men. “I beseech you in the bowels of Christ, think it is possible that you may be mistaken. Precept may be upon precept, line may be upon line. And yet the word of the Lord may be to some a word of Judgment; that they may fall backward and be broken, and be snared, and be taken! There may be a spiritual fullness which the world may call drunkenness, as in the second chapter of Acts. There may be, as well, a carnal confidence upon misunderstood and misapplied precepts, which may be called spiritual drunkenness. There may be a covenant made with Death and Hell! I will not say yours was so. But judge if such things have a politic aim: To avoid the overflowing scourge; or, to accomplish worldly interests? And if therein you have confederated with wicked and carnal men, and have respect for them, or otherwise have drawn them in to associate with us, whether this be a covenant of God and spiritual? Bethink yourselves; we hope you do.
“I pray you read the Twenty-eighth chapter of Isaiah, from the fifth to the fifteenth verse. And do not scorn to know that it is the Spirit that quickens and giveth life.” 220.23B6p163 The Book of Isaiah
Isaiah 62:6-7 “Ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence. And give Him no rest, till He establish, and till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.”
I. They Were a People Who Believed in Political Expediency. V14f “. . .Ye scornful men which rule this people . . . Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge . . .”
It was, of course, the commonest mistake of Biblical times. Isaiah was declaring it so. Jeremiah, a century later, was proclaiming the same message to Judah. Oliver Cromwell’s letter suggests that it has always been a humanist flaw. We see it in our own political evolution today. I wonder if we Louisianans are worst. I fancy not, but it does stand out so clearly to us.
Things change ever so slowly, and we forget how to see them. When Earl Long was running for Governor in 1955, I was newly come to Louisiana. How could anyone vote for him? I told Ann, “There won’t even be a second primary.” He won in the first.
This is relevant whenever and wherever luxury and intemperance abound: Men with eyes too fevered by sin to see beauty in simple purity and piety; Human minds so brimful of knowledge, they are intoxicated with their own cleverness; Circumstances where we have been called upon so often that we conclude a melodramatic incapacity to err.
What do we see when we examine issues? God’s covenant—His word? His law? Man’s compromise? Israel decided that they were in a better position to analyze conditions. It seemed that God’s word did not matter. It’s kind of like going to a Halloween Carnival. Lots of fun things to do: dunking vats, cake walks, fishing booths, and there is always a little boy in a devil’s suit. But he’s just a little boy, pretending. Our problems are not little boys pretending to be devils. Our problems are come from devils pretending to be what they are not, and we are tricked by their pretension.
II. Too Many Seem to Believe that God Has Lost Control of His Creation. V15 “. . . when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us.” Israel’s problem necessitates explanation. Isaiah had been a careful proponent of their hope in God. But it was put to them in a way which singled out their sin, and their need to repent. V17 “Judgment will I lay to the line and righteousness to the plummet.”
In reality, we could blame Isaiah for this problem. Isaiah had a speech impediment. He spoke nothing but the truth. He declared only what God gave him. The Assyrian storm troops were in position right across the border. The only way out was absolute dependence upon God, the sacrifice of their free-wheeling ways. Explicitly, they were going to have to surrender their expediency.
Instead of God, they turned to Egypt. Isaiah 29:14 “Therefore . . . I will proceed to do a . . . work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent shall be hid.”
We still only have two options.
We can trust God. He knows the end from the beginning. V16 “I lay in Zion . . . a sure foundation.” He has provided a sure defense for His people. V17 “Judgment also will I lay to the line.” No pretenders to faith allowed. But then, no genuine articles were overlooked either.
Or, we can trust the devices of men. Make up our minds. Give more than lip-service. But remember where our strength is.
We are going to be voting for five, maybe even Speedy Long. Are we voting deviously? Are we voting sincerely? The one thing we must not do is to let our variant choices become a barrier to our labors for Christ.
My best advice to you:
Vote!
Vote your conscience!
Give every other person that right!
Remember that it is our covenant with God that will stand. These human covenants are worth no more than the integrity of the person.
The following piece was clipped from a magazine, source unknown:
Not serried ranks and flags unfurled, Not armored ships that gird the world,
Not hoarded wealth nor busy mills, Not cattle on a thousand hills,
Not sages wise, nor schools, nor laws, Not boasted deeds in freedom’s cause—
All these may be, and yet the state In the eye of God be far from great.
That land is great which knows the Lord, Whose songs are guided by His word:
Where justice rules ‘twixt man and man, Where love controls in art and plan;
Where, breathing in his native air, Each soul find joy in praise and prayer—
Thus may our country, good and great, Be God’s delight, . . . man’s best estate.”
We have the opportunity to once again turn the self-interest of the alcohol-monger back in upon himself.
Don’t be duped by his “rights.” Only what we give him.
Don’t be led astray by tax advantage. $1 in taxes costs $8.99 in support from trash to pieces of wasted lives.
See it as one more opportunity to stand up for what you believe.
Canceling the covenant of expediency is true freedom. Isaiah 62:6,7 “I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace, day or night: Ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and give Him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
THE HEART-CRY FOR REVIVAL
#081 THE HEART-CRY FOR REVIVAL
Scripture II Chronicles 7:11-18 NIV Orig. 9-27-64
Rewr. 3-17-77
Passage: 11 When Solomon had finished the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the Lord and in his own palace, 12 the Lord appeared to him at night and said: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.
13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
17 “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws, 18 I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to rule over Israel.’”
Introduction
Over the past few years there has been a major thrust by some groups to maintain a proper balance of “truth in advertising.” This came about as a result of some advertising methods that were questionable if not downright misleading. Labels now must declare what is in a product, nothing more and nothing less. Advertising techniques must be true to the capabilities of whatever is being advertised. If not, the advertiser can be held liable.
Now, a new problem has arisen. The Madison Avenue boys in blue, or in blue jeans, whatever they are wearing now, have in their brazenness sunk to an all-time low. The admen and their clients are getting on the religious bandwagon. Someone suggested that “God is right up there with O.J. Simpson and Don Rickles.” The most disgusting to me is the ‘Jesus jeans’ ad. It depicted the rear view of a woman clad in a pair of these jeans, and across her rear was written a Bible quotation in Italian. Translated it read, “He who loves me follows me.”
A few months back, metropolitan newspapers in some parts of the country carried an ad introducing a new brand of whiskey called “King James Scotch Whiskey.” Before you get ready to argue their case, saying, “Why defend James when Robert would not offend us? Maybe it was not chosen for that reason,” know that on each side of the bottle appeared the phrase, “The King James version.” “Blue Nun Wine” asks their clientele ‘to try something a little sacrilegious.’
Playboy ran a full page newspaper ad picturing a priest reading their magazine. The lead line in the ad states, “I read Playboy and found God.” Even an old-line company like General Motors has gotten in on the act. An ad in Time magazine shows a group of nuns in traditional dress, with one of them saying, “The steering committee at the convent voted 5 to 0 in favor of tilt wheel. It’s been a blessing.”
For most of us, this is offensive. We ought to be stirred to express our opinions to the offending companies, their ad personnel, and also the newspapers and magazines carrying ads. My point this morning, however, is that the Christian community has just as much responsibility to advertise what it can produce and nothing more. We are advertising ‘revival’ and it is up to us to produce it.
I. The Heart Cry of Revival is Heard Because Of Who We Are. “If my people,” says the Scripture. The pagan world has always found its understanding of divine appeasement in biological reproduction. The happiness of the gods was seen in the success of human sexuality and agricultural abundance. I am presently reading James Michener’s The Source. It is an historical novel describing the level-by-level accumulation of history at a site called Makor. While Michener’s purpose is not spiritual, he has authenticated his facts. His view of the pre-Abramic Canaanites describes, with some taste and decorum, their appeasement of the gods through infant sacrifice, and sexual fertility rites.
Spiritually we owe a great debt to the culture and the evolution of the Hebrew people through whom God revealed Himself. They were the ones who taught us the open-heartedness of God for His creation. Exodus 6:7 “I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God. Deuteronomy 32:9 “The Lord’s portion is His people.” Psalms 125:2 “As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people from henceforth forever.
The people of ancient Crete honored a statue of Jove which had no ears. They could not believe that any god would concern himself with the idle chatter of people such as they.
Through these Hebrews the discovery came of a faith relationship that was negotiable. I Samuel 15:22 (200-300 years after Moses), “Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?” Psalms 51:16, “Thou delightest not in burnt offerings.” Isaiah 1:18, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” II Chronicles 7:17, “And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judgments.” Recall also the experience out of the life of David (II Samuel 12) when Nathan comes to congratulate David at Solomon’s birth, and named Solomon “Jedediah,” beloved of the Lord.
Let it be finally understood that we are the people of God. We are duty bound to proclaim it so. Our responsibility is even greater in a world where faith and belief, and even a concept of God, are treated so shabbily. Four or five years ago a movie titled McCabe and Mrs. Miller hit the cinemas across America. The reviews gave ample evidence of what it contained. Some of you let your children see it. It contained every kind of immoral perversion that its “R” rating would allow. It took place in a little town called Presbyterian Church. The church was no more than incidental in the life and morality of the town. But, when the church caught on fire and was burning, it was those same people who were quickly on the scene saving the church. The message left with the viewer was of the utter irrelevancy of the church.
That is not unlike the cartoon carried on the editorial page of the Times-Picayune this week. It had been picked up from a San Francisco paper. A group of sour looking people were advancing on the porno shop with fire bombs. The next sequence shows the shop in ashes, but behind the shop the public library was also in ashes. You will never convince me that such as that is anything less than satanic intimidation.
Now hear me well brethren, we will never counteract contemporary, flagrant violations of spiritual trust, giving God, whose people we are, an hour of our time on Sunday morning. Let me suggest some ways that help determine whose people we are: Whose people, when on a given Sunday, 75% of adult membership absent themselves from Bible study; whose, when on a Sunday evening 80-90% regularly ignore discipleship opportunity; whose, when on Wednesday night 95% reject an opportunity for intercessory prayer; whose, when maybe no more than 2-3% spend any time taking to others about their Lord, their church?
II. The Heart Cry of Revival is Heard Because Of Where We Are. The One who says, “If my people” says also “will humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face.”
What “if my people” means: That God has promised renewal; that Christians have the right and obligation to claim it. There are proper procedures to enhance it—humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, turn away from wickedness.
Consider first the need for humility. The first man after Adam to need revival was his son Cain. Genesis 4 tells the story. He knew to bring an offering to the Lord. Arriving at the altar, however, he, in effect said, “I will offer what offering I please and you can like it or lump it.” That may sound familiar.
Consider also the need for prayer. Acts 2:42 “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Acts 2:46 “And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.” Acts 3:1 “Peter and John went up to the temple at the hour of prayer.” 3:6 “Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have I give thee: In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”
Only after humility and prayer can we seek God’s face. Psalms 24: “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart.”
***THE REMAINDER OF THIS SERMON HAS BEEN LOST***
THE KEYS TO THE KINGDOM
#077 THE KEYS TO THE KINGDOM
Scripture Matthew 16:13-19 NIV Orig. 8-30-64
Rewr. 3-1-88
Passage: 13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter,[a] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[b] will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[c] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[d] loosed in heaven.”
Purpose: To call my people to a renewed awareness of commitment. An attention to some topics of concern is required.
Keywords: Christ, Lord Duty Commitment
Introduction
We regularly talk about commitment. We give only rudimentary attention to the place it should have in our lives.
My dictionary translates it variously: “consigning for safe-keeping,” “an act of engagement or pledging,” “liability incurred,” “the act of doing,” “perpetration.” Its Biblical use is almost always as a verb. Paul admonishes Timothy to “keep that which is committed to Thy trust” (I Timothy 6:20). And, of himself, in the following treatise he writes his young friend “I . . . am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him” (II Timothy 1:12).
It is from a Greek verb, paratithēmi, meaning “guarding what is held in trust.” It is from this word that our word “tithe” comes, suggesting “to put,” or “to deposit.” But this is not a “tithing” message, so let’s get back to other forms of commitment.
You may have heard the story about the cow and the chicken that were serving as co-hostesses for a barnyard bash. They decided to prepare the largest breakfast in history. There would be eggs, and milk, grits, biscuits, ham and bacon, the works. Everybody should be excited about doing their part. Everybody, that is, but the hog. He interrupted the proceedings, reminding the committee, “What you are offering to give is a token offering, but what you require of me is total commitment.” Someone else ventures, “When a dog chases a rabbit, for the dog it’s fun and games, but for the rabbit, it’s a life and death situation.”
We must remember that commitment requires a subject as well as an object. We are not going to come to terms with this kind of dedication until we possess full knowledge about the ONE to whom we are committing ourselves.
I. The First Key to the Kingdom Is the Key of Devotion. V13 “Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” First off, let me remind you that a key is not idle curiosity. My seminary days were spent working for the US Post Office. Working nights, I was often called upon to fill in for absent, regular employees. One of those functions involved Registered Mail. I would find out, after the fact, that I had handled tens of thousands of dollars, for which I, alone, was responsible, once I signed as having received it.
The more we know Christ, the more our devotion to him must grow. There have been people we liked until we got to know them. But the special people in our lives are people we grow more and more appreciative of as we know them better.
Christ, Himself, attests to this need in our lives. Matthew 10:37 “He that loveth father or mother (son or daughter) more than me is not worthy of me.” How many things do you love? Which of them do you love more than you love Christ? Simon Peter had a face-to-face confrontation with devotion during the trial of Jesus. Later, Jesus said, “Simon, lovest thou me?”
Paul’s epistles form the basis of our theology. It is based on love for Christ. I Corinthians 2:2 “I am determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” He seeks to lead people to Jesus not to draw them unto himself. Ephesians 3:19 “And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,” to therein be open to the people around us.
It is to minimize self. It is to accept others and sometimes their odd ways. A little boy’s grandmother had come for a visit. It was August, and she was sharing his bedroom. She wanted the window down, he up. About the fourth night he prayed, “Lord, bless mother and daddy, and make it hot for grandmother.”
II. The Second Key Is That of Demonstration. V16 Peter’s confession: “You are the Christ, the son of the living God.” V18 Jesus’ response: “on this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
Our only connotation for demonstration is often only negative. We read of sit-ins, and lay-ins, and marches that seem not pointless, but counterproductive. We dispel any responsibility to react in this unacceptable manner. But brethren, to be Christians, is to be on cross-course with our culture.
Uppermost in our daily lives, should be our determination to demonstrate love for Christ. As a clear example to lost people, understanding that the drift of society is away from God, not to Him. The convention average of church members to baptisms is 1 to 30. Last couple of years, we have been 1 to 17. But frontier mission churches, and overseas work, often reveal a much higher proportion (1 to 10), because the people come to grips with this need.
We cannot assume the emphases are going to reach these unreached people. We must promote these programs. In a revival with a nationally prominent evangelist, a worker said, “I enjoyed the singer more.” Was he more entertaining? I Corinthians 1:18: “The preaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness, but to us who are saved it is the power of God.”
That demonstration of love must be kept current. It is the local church that is the gathering (focal point) of believers. We must keep abreast of contemporary influences. It is said that the Great Awakening of the 1730’s was born on preaching such as that of Jonathan Edwards Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. People clutched the back of the pew to keep from falling into hell.
Sin has not changed. Its form may have. Hell has not changed. We hear less. The church has not changed. We still must point the way. Jesus has not changed. He died to save. God has not changed. We may not perceive of Him as angry, but He is just, and that should cause fear.
III. The Final Key to the Kingdom Is an Assessment of Duty. V19 “I will give unto you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
So the keys are three: That of devotion, knowing Christ; that of demonstration, revealing His presence; and that of duty, being knowledgeable about the way we live and serve Him. This third key is so important. We have a duty to perform. An article in the Baptist Message (March 1, 1988) tells of a volunteer couple from Texas who spent nine years in Minnesota. (context lost) You see, God does have a plan for each of us. What He has for us may go undone if we withhold our commitment.
Conclusion
Phillip P. Bliss was a music evangelist in meetings often with D.L. Moody. Mr. Moody had told of a ship captain trying to bring his ship through a storm. The lighthouse guided him safely into the harbor, but the channel lights were not burning, and inevitably they were swept into the rocks and many drowned. The singer, moved by the illustration, wrote a song still in use over 100 years.
“Brightly beams our Father’s mercy From his Lighthouse evermore.
But to us He gives the keeping of the lights along the shore.
Dark the night of sin has settled, Loud the angry billows roar;
Eager eyes are watching, longing For the lights along the shore.
Trim your feeble lamp, my brother: Some poor sailor tempest tossed,
Trying now to make the harbor, In the darkness may be lost.
Let the lower lights be burning! Send a gleam across the wave!
Some poor fainting, struggling seaman You may rescue, you may save.”
WHEN GOOD THINGS COME OUR WAY
#073 WHEN GOOD THINGS COME OUR WAY
Scripture Psalm 84:11 NIV Orig. November 24. 1963
Rewr. November 17, 1984
Passage:
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.
Purpose: On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, to remind my people of the great goodness of God to His people.
Keywords: God Goodness Special Days
Timeline/Series: Thanksgiving
Introduction
Have you ever reasoned within yourself to see what it is that you really expect from God? Do we seriously expect God to bless us with wealth when so much of the world’s people go hungry?
I could not help but notice the disparity this week. U.S.A. Today featured an article on hunger in Africa. “Americans who have been to Ethiopia remember the silent children . . . . or women gathering grass for their families’ meals. Or children with bloated bellies tugging at the arms of visitors or lying on the road to stop food trucks.”
The disparity came a day or so later while reading an article in Newsweek. The article was entitled “America’s Nutrition Revolution.” It described a beautifully appointed salad bar. “No,” said the article, “it isn’t Malibu. It’s the Greyhound Bus Station in Chicago, hog butcher for the world.”
It’s great to have a choice. It is greater still to know about nutrition, and to be able to eat accordingly.
Ethiopia and half of Africa is in what some call the worst famine of the 20th Century, and most Americans are more concerned about higher standards of living, better roads, less taxes, bigger amusement parks, and how to best invest our money.
Now what was that question again? Do we seriously expect God to bless us with wealth when so much of the world’s people go hungry?”
I. Good Comes from the Vision of God for His People. The text boldly proclaims “No good thing” asserting that good does not come by accident. Psalms 23:6 “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” Romans 12:9 “Abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good.” I Thessalonians 5:21 “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”
It is God’s nature to abhor evil, cleave to good, so it is expected of you and me. Thus, in those good things that we receive, we are to perceive them as His gifts of love to us. We are to be very careful that we not perceive only that which is materially advantageous as good.
One Sunday morning in New Orleans, the paper told a large story between the lines. Tulane won when Vandy failed to score from the one yard line in the last minutes of the game. The winning coach was quoted as saying “Just the grace of God.”
There is one all-encompassing guideline by which God determines the “good thing” which He will not withhold. Philippians 4:19 “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Jesus Christ.” What we receive is from the supply of his divine economy. Since He has other children, we are “joint heirs” to His riches in glory.” His promise is to “supply all your need.” Anything that you have that you do not need, you decide where it came from.
II. Good Comes from the Involvement of God with His People. “No good thing will the Lord withhold from them . . . .” In our pseudo-sophistication, either out of church or in church, many people have discounted God. What Paul wrote to the Romans in 1:22, what some will miss in tonight’s message: “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.”
To discount God is to discount Him to our doom and to our perversion. Ethiopia is a case in point. They have been in the eastern bloc. Russia could supply them with arms; not with grain. Russia can’t feed her own. At the same time, America, with stored grain to stabilize prices, is more concerned about its economy than the starving people of Africa, or the poor around us.
God is the one constant in life. Bread and water are changing commodities. Heat (or cooling) and light seem to grow increasingly expensive. Even love and hate are cyclical, as seen in Ireland. But God never changes.
Moses defined for the people the meaning of their obedience. Exodus 23:25 “So you shall serve the Lord your God, and He shall bless your bread and your water.”
So what is important??? The Bread and Water, or God’s Blessing? Jesus reached the same conclusion in The Lord’s Prayer (Luke 11:3). “Give us this day our daily bread.” Again, what is important? The bread! The water! Or the One from whom it comes.
III. Good Comes with the Invitation of God to His People. “No good thing will the Lord withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Some people seem to think that the answer is in sitting back and waiting for God to act. It is clearly in God’s vision. God foresaw for Israel a great blessing through David as King.
We are also dependent upon God’s Involvement. God accepted David as a shepherd lad, saw him through many character flaws to help him become. But make no mistake, the Invitation calls us to commitment of self. God calls us, invites us, to consider good on His terms, to acquaint ourselves with the world as it is. What prayer is said at your table? “I thank thee, Lord, that I am not as others are”? What if instead we might pray, “Help me to be worthy of the bounty of Thy love.”
Read again that beautiful 100th Psalm. “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands, Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord He is God, it is He that hath made us and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with Thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise.”
God invites us to live in His world as His children. Accept His invitation to the upright walk. That’s not sinlessness. It’s putting Him first. Receive from Him the assurance of every “good thing” for our spiritual well-being.
Closing
Bro. Emory Wallace told this story of a father from Mobile, AL. His daughter was in jail in DeRidder. He called Bro. Wallace asking if he knew how she was doing. Her cynicism was uncontained until he told her about her father’s call, and of his love.
GOD SAVES HIS PEOPLE
#067 GOD SAVES HIS PEOPLE
Scripture Psalm 3 NIV Orig. 11/29/61
Rewr. 2/4/85 (6-77)
Passage:
1 Lord, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
2 Many are saying of me,
“God will not deliver him.”[b]
3 But you, Lord, are a shield around me,
my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
4 I call out to the Lord,
and he answers me from his holy mountain.
5 I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.
6 I will not fear though tens of thousands
assail me on every side.
7 Arise, Lord!
Deliver me, my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
break the teeth of the wicked.
8 From the Lord comes deliverance.
May your blessing be on your people.
Purpose: To show the intent of God to translate all trials not only into understanding, but a sense of His purpose and love.
Keywords: Compassion Love of God Salvation Confession
Timeline/Series: Psalms
Introduction
The word “save” has many different meanings. Last week’s news told of a little two-year old boy who was saved from freezing to death though he already had ice in his veins.
When the Queen of England makes an official appearance we will hear the expression, “God save the Queen.” Its meaning obviously has the force of a prayer seeking God’s merciful benediction upon the reigning sovereign.
It even penetrates the temporal world of sport. A hockey goalie performs a “save” when he keeps the opposition’s puck shot from reaching the goal. In another form, the baseball player runs for his life to be safe on base.
The economist understands it in a totally different context. To save is to do the opposite of “to spend.” National fiscal policies center around getting people to hold onto their money, or to be free with it. I suspect that for most people “saving” in this sense has more to do with whether to drive to an out-of-town wholesale outlet, or to buy from a local retailer who has to charge more to survive.
The meaning here is quite different. “God saves His people” speaks of the act of God in behalf of those who have a special relationship to Him. The saving act is a delivering act. It may be temporary and immediate. It may also be permanent and _(illegible)_.
I. To Save is To Shield. V3 “But you, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory, and the One who lifts up my head.” It acknowledges both trouble and temperance, grief and grace. I am persuaded no one is out of the reach of God’s grace who does not become so by stubborn refusals. The President spoke (2-85), hopeful of America’s spiritual values. Barbara Walters interviewed the Carters, incredulously asking “Do you really believe in God? Do you pray?”
For the Christian there is always evidence of God’s care. Paul reminds the Ephesians (6:14) “Put on the belt of truth, . . . integrity, let the shoes on your feet be the gospel of peace, to you firm footing; take the great shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all of the flaming arrows of the evil one.”
One of the consistent memories of childhood tells of parental concern for safety and gradual assumption of care.
It goes a bold step further to declare peace of mind and heart, even when trouble refuses to depart. V5 “I lay down and slept, I awoke, for the Lord sustained me.” It is the first of fourteen historically entitled. It is a Psalm of David, written when he fled from Absalom his son. How willing are we to live our lives in His will as He reveals it? Deuteronomy 6:6 “And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart.”
How often do we examine our own personality quirks and work to change them? Matthew 5:43 reads “If you bring your gift to the altar and remember that your brother ought against you, leave your gift and be reconciled. . . .”
Do we take the irresolvable burdens to the Lord and leave them with Him? Romans 8:38-39 “For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature . . . shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Psalm 5:12 “For it is Thou who dost bless the righteous man, O Lord, Thou dost surround him with favor as a shield.”
II. To Save is to Shelter, to Have a Safe-Guard. II Samuel 17:1 “Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Please let me choose 12,000 men that I may arise and pursue David tonight.” V6 “I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.” To be so totally outclassed, yet confident is to know of secreted powers, and to know by what means we have access to those powers.
V4 “I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me from His holy hill.” For David that hill was Jerusalem, Mt. Moriah. For us there ought also to be a place. There ought also to be a means. V4 “I cried unto the Lord with my voice.”
Much of modern psychiatric medicine is undergirded by confession. A present course is “life review.” As David confessed his sin, he was able to progress to other needs. Dr. Carl Rogers said that confession is “catharsis.” Dr. Rogers says this frees the individual from conscious fears, guilt; it brings to light subconscious feelings. I John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.”
With God there is no more important hindrance than that of our sin. God’s attitude toward our sin is consistent with His holiness. He wills to forgive. (In 2 Samuel 18 David entreated his aides to “deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom,” even though his commanders wanted to take off Absalom’s head.) There must be contrition on our part, and confession. Without constant vigilance we tend to lower our goals for living.
III. To Save is to Shepherd. Psalm 23:1 “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” V8 “Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing is upon your people.” The problem was a deep boding of failure. Not just a son who didn’t measure up, but a son who has set himself to oppose. More and more were saying “God can’t help you,” “God won’t help such a man.” There are not enemies enough to counter the burden of a son who has turned against one.
Yet, in such an intolerable posture, David sees himself as able to sleep, and to awaken with a sense of well-being. “I awoke” is cheerily to awake. Our grandson Ryan called out “Anna, get up! The sun is up!”
God’s promise to His people is always His shepherding love. Trouble may be all around. But to call upon the Lord is to expect a saving response. Psalm 23:4 “though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
I dare not turn away without reminding us all that God saves through His Son. David looked to the promise of God in the coming Messiah. But we look back on what God has done in history. How can we dare to assert a faith in God that does not express itself in David’s vision?
Conclusion
God is shield to me, shelter to my life, shepherd to my soul.
One of Aesop’s fables takes the form of an oak tree that had stood for more than a hundred years. Finally it was blown over in a storm. It was swept off down the flooding river. Coming to rest finally near some reeds that had withstood both storm and flood, the oak asked, “How did you weather a storm too powerful for me?” The reeds answered, “You have resisted in all your pride and strength. And now the end has come.”
We must yield to wind and water. We must humble ourselves.